Twitter is cracking down on posts that spread (potentially dangerous) false stories as part of a broader effort to promote accuracy during times of crisis, per Bloomberg.

What happened: Under the new policy, the platform will downplay posts that make misleading claims about crises like natural disasters and wars, including tweets that mischaracterize conditions in Ukraine’s conflict zones or allege false war crimes. 

• Twitter will prioritize labelling tweets from political figures, verified accounts and state-sponsored media outlets during crises, which the company describes as events posing a “widespread threat to life, physical safety, health or basic subsistence.” 

The company says misinformation about mass shootings or natural disasters or potential future global conflicts can have devastating impacts—false tweets about the wildfires in California last year spread so fast they caused disruptions for firefighters.

Why it matters: Twitter’s hands-on approach to fighting harmful misinformation could clash with Elon Musk’s future plans for the company as a ‘free speech haven.’ 

Musk, who has agreed to pay $44 billion to acquire Twitter and vowed to do away with its content moderation policies,said Twitter should only take down posts that violate the law—misinformation doesn’t, so this policy may not survive Twitter’s Elon-ization. 

(Assuming he doesn’t back out of the deal, which is a big if). 

Swiping payments: Google will temporarily allow Match Group to offer users of its dating apps an alternative choice in payment systems on the Google Play store, after Match refused to share up to 30% of sales with Google and sued to avoid getting booted off. 

Bring on the grain: After a tough year in Canadian agriculture due to extreme droughts, CN Rail, Canada’s largest railroad, is bracing for a surge in grain shipments across the country this year—a sign of hope that this year’s harvest will be better than the last one. 

Ten minutes of fame: Japanese film production companies have launched a civil lawsuit claiming copyright infringement against three people who condensed their feature films into 10-minute “fast movies” on YouTube, which have been a total hit with younger viewers. 

GameTok: TikTok is testing games in Vietnam, per Reuters, indicating a major push into ad-supported games that would draw from the library of its parent company, ByteDance, to boost revenue and somehow increase the amount of time people spend on TikTok.

Nothing brings people together more than a common enemy, and a mutual dislike of tech giants has managed to unite even Republicans and Democrats in the US Senate.

Senators from both parties have uncharacteristically banded together to introduce legislation that would force tech giants like Google and Meta to break up their online advertising businesses, per The Wall Street Journal. 

Why it matters: Under the new law, companies that process more than US$20 billion per year in online ad transactions would be banned from doing business in more than one part of the digital ad ecosystem, which includes everything from the servers that host ads to the auction platforms they’re sold on.

Right now, Google and Meta touch almost every ad you see online one way or another.  Lawmakers are becoming increasingly uncomfortable with this fingers-in-every-pie status quo, which they regard as bad for competition.

• Multiple states have filed antitrust lawsuits against Google, claiming it has used its market power to artificially raise prices for advertisers and cut revenue for publishers. Earlier this month, the EU also fined Google €1.49 billion for allegedly imposing anti-competitive contracts on publishers that hurt rivals.

Google—which brought in US$54 billion from its ad business last quarter—argues its customers benefit from integrated services and that prices for advertisers have been falling on their platforms. 

Zoom out: Tougher regulations on big tech are about the only thing the Senate can agree on these days, which makes the proposed bill look promising. If passed, it would be one of the most aggressive measures taken by the US to rein in big tech to date.

Eat a hearty, flaky, and eggy breakfast on National Quiche Lorraine Day, which celebrates the quintessential French meal originating from the Lorraine region of Northeastern France. For a Canuck spin on the dish, check out this recipe from Taste of Home loaded with cheddar cheese, sweet onion, and Canadian bacon. Everything you need to start the day off right! 

Tune into the Men and Women’s World Rugby Sevens Series on CBC Gem, which kicked off yesterday in Toulouse, France. Rugby sevens is a variation on the sport featuring seven players instead of fifteen, making for faster-paced games that are often more exciting and easier for novice viewers to get into. Canada’s women’s team is particularly good, medalling all but once in the previous eight editions of the tournament.

Read about all the places you might want to go to now that travel is back. Travel literature is a rich genre that can excite the mind and paint vivid pictures of far-off vistas. Check out lists from The Guardian and The Washington Post for some suggestions. You could even bring a travel book on your next trip—given those airport wait times, you might have a lot of time to kill either sitting at the terminal or on the tarmac.

Listen to “Harry’s House” the new album from former One Direction-er Harry Styles, which trades in the David Bowie-isms of his previous effort “Fine Line” for a slinkier and more synth-heavy approach. And the move pays off! He sounds more comfortable than ever as a solo musician. You can check out the lead single, “As It Was”, but chances are you’ve already heard it (since it broke Spotify’s record for most streams in 24 hours).    

Now that global flights have surpassed 2019 levels again, we can officially say that travel is back, and it’s returning with a hot new trend: Wellness tourism.

Catch-up: Think of wellness tourism as the opposite of using the continental breakfast waffle-maker while eight margaritas deep. Travel focused on personal well-being used to be the realm of ultra-exclusive (and ultra-expensive) spa resorts or meditation retreats, but is becoming more accessible—the industry is expected to grow 21% annually through 2025.  

What happened: According to Expedia, mental well-being is the number one thing 41% of Canadian travellers are searching for when going on a trip this year, and mainstream hotels and airlines are offering more options to accommodate these desires. 

• Several hotel chains, including Hilton, Fairmont, and Westin have seen success with packages that include workout equipment in a guest’s room.
  
  
• Air Canada has partnered with mediation app Headscape to provide guided mediation as part of their in-flight entertainment.
  
  
• And there’s no shortage of traditional wellness retreats, with tucked-away resorts specializing in everything from yoga to guided hikes to magic mushrooms.

Wellness tourism’s popularity is partly due to a global trend towards health consciousness, but another major factor is how stressful the pandemic has been. We’re now looking to destress rather than exhaust ourselves with overstuffed itineraries. 

Why it matters: The future of travel will likely hold more options for healthy travel plans, but if you’re not about sipping kale shakes and sleeping in a room scientifically engineered for restful sleep, no worries, the classic all-inclusive, lounging on the beach, guzzling piña coladas vacation isn’t going away anytime soon.  

🖥 $100 million. Amount (in USD) that Toronto-based startup Xanadu secured in funding to develop its quantum computing technology, which theoretically could run calculations at unheard-of speeds and contribute to groundbreaking developments. 

🖼 $350,000. Price at auction for a painting by famed Canadian artist Maud Lewis–the painting in question was once traded for grilled cheese sandwiches! We’d much prefer the money… unless it was like a really good grilled cheese. 

👑 $487,661.68. Amount that the Canadian Heritage Department paid for Prince Charles and Camilla’s last three-day visit in 2017—their most recent visit ended Thursday but the final bill has not yet been tabulated.

• Fireworks safety tips for the May Long Weekend.
  
  
• Woman who wrote a blog called ‘How to Murder Your Husband’ is on trial for (you guessed it) murdering her husband.
  
  
• The top ten under-the-radar Canadian travel destinations.
  
  
• Watch: This defunct Garfield theme park ride sounds like it was an absolute nightmare.
  

• Vacation photos generated by DALL-E 2 are completely indistinguishable from real ones.